


Delusion

by flowing_river



Series: Civil War Team Iron Man Fix-It [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Carol Danvers, BAMF Stephen Strange, BAMF Tony Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gaslighting, Gen, Good Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Magic, Not Clint Friendly, Not Sam friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25058491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowing_river/pseuds/flowing_river
Summary: Steve shows up to an event thinking Tony is being mind controlled. And everything goes wrong.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Loki & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange
Series: Civil War Team Iron Man Fix-It [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794685
Comments: 31
Kudos: 910





	Delusion

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to read the first fic in this series for this one to make sense. And this is a **Team Iron Man** fic.

It was a normal event where everything went wrong. The new team commonly had events where some members would be there, and they would interact with the public. Most of them were to help out people in other ways then saving loves from alien invasions. Others were just events where children got to meet some members and participate in competitions and such.

Tony could never imagine the old team doing anything like this. They always claimed they had to many much more important things to do, which is what he told the press when they asked why the avengers had never done events like this before. He had always done things like this alone.

Today is a small event for any kid who wants to come. It’s only him, Peter, and Stephen there. Peter is showing off his tricks and different kind of flips, Stephen is showing off his magic (Tony kept insisting he summon a rabbit from a hat which caused him to roll his eyes), and Tony is showing his suit and other inventions of course.

Everything is going perfect, so of course that means something has to go horribly wrong.

“Tony!” he hears from the man that Tony hoped he would never see again.

Tony immediately uses the nanobots to put on his suit and uses the extra ones he keeps stored in his suit to form a shield behind him where all the kids are standing. Rogers notices the move and narrows his eyes.

“Come on, Tony. We’re not going to hurt a bunch of kids, we’re just here to talk.”

“Yeah? Tell that to those kids you pulled the tunnel down on,” Tony says.

He speaks into his communication device in his suit quietly and lets Stephen and Peter know what’s going on. Rogers rolls his eyes and takes a step forward. Barton and Maximoff are standing right behind him and both looking like they’re ready to murder him.

“We didn’t hurt anyone in the tunnel. And we’re just here to talk, Tony. Put the suit away.”

Tony raises his eyebrows, Barton is holding his bow, ready to shoot at any second, and Maximoff’s hands are raised like she’s about to do magic. Rogers looks unarmed, but he’s sure he has some sort of weapon on him.

“You’re here to ‘talk’ in full gear? And I’ll stay in the suit, considering you almost killed me the last time we saw each other.”

“Tony, do you need backup?” asks Stephen’s voice in his ear.

“Not yet,” Tony whispers back, “Try and get all the kids out of here. I have a bunch of them behind me too and we have to get them away from the Rogues, that’s the first priority. Have Peter stick with them to watch over them.”

“I’ll clear everyone out in our area and then get the ones behind you out with a small portal.”

“Copy that,” Tony whispers then turns his attention back to Rogers.

“Tony,” he’s saying, “I figured out what’s wrong. I knew you wouldn’t ignore us and follow the Accords.”

Tony lets him talk and keeps scanning the area until he sees where Wilson is hiding in the air. He lets Stephen and Peter know he’s in the air.

“Loki and that Strange guy must be mind-controlling you,” Rogers is rambling, “And Wanda here has already agreed to fix that.”

“I’ve been needing new gear, Stark,” Barton cuts in, “Good thing you have an excuse for not fixing things up until now.”

Tony manages to bite back a response. He just hopes Rogers keeps talking long enough for Stephen can get the kids out from behind him so he can engage them.

“I’ve opened up a small portal behind you that they shouldn’t be able to see,” Stephen says in his ear, “the rest of the area is clear.”

Tony whispers a response and he can hear Peter gently reassuring the kids into going through the portal one by one. Suddenly Wilson swoops in nearby and shoots something that seems to be going towards the portal behind him, most likely aiming for Stephen on the other side. But the kids…

Tony flies up a bit and turns towards the kids to make sure he covers them all and takes the hit to his back. It hurts, but he’s been through a lot worse, so he doesn’t even let a cry of pain escape from his mouth.

He lands back on his face and lets his faceplate peel away, “What the hell was that?”

Rogers frowns, “See, Strange must be mind controlling you for take a hit like that for him”

“You almost killed a bunch of _kids-_ ”

“Don’t worry, Tony, Wanda will fix you. The you can get rid of the Accords and we can move back into the compound and live as a family again,” Rogers says, cutting him off.

Tony laughs, “That’s the biggest piece of bullshit I have ever heard.”

“Tony, it’s just the mind control. You should have never trusted Loki-”

“The only person I shouldn’t have trusted was you. Loki didn’t do anything, he was mind control during New York. Just like you claim Barnes was during his time with HYDRA. Funny how you only claim mind control and brainwashing are an excuse when it comes to Barnes.”

“Bucky is innocent!” Rogers yells.

“You’ve been saying that for quite some time, but I have yet to see any proof. You never let him get examined, you never let him get treated for what you claim. It just makes everything seem like a convenient excuse, doesn’t it?”

“HYDRA has files on everything. Those prove he was innocent,” Rogers says.

“Files can be faked, they don’t prove anything. The only thing that could have proved Barnes was brainwashed was if he had turned himself in. If you hadn’t hid my parents murder from me and used me and my money to find him. If you hadn’t ignored what 117 countries wanted. I could have _helped_ you. But instead you lied to me and chose to manipulate and gaslight me.”

“Gaslighting? What are talking about Tony? Bucky is innocent and you’re just getting some petty revenge over him. It’s okay, Tony, this is just the mind control talking.”

“If anyone was mind controlling me, it was you and _her._ ”

Rogers sighs, “There’s no point of talking to you like this. Wanda, do it.”

Wanda’s hands start glowing red and Tony lets his faceplate cover his face again. His breathing speeds up, he still remember how often she would mess with his mind and every time he went to talk to Rogers about it, he would dismiss it, blaming him for the deaths of her parents and upsetting her.

“Tony, take a deep breath,” Stephen says, “She can’t hurt you.”

Tony knows that. Stephen, Loki, and him had worked on a project to infuse magic into some nanobots to add to everyone’s suits to protect them from mind control. But he also knew Maximoff well enough to know she would get angry if she couldn’t get into his head.

No matter how much Rogers insisted she didn’t have good control of her powers, he knew she knew exactly what she was doing, at least when it comes to mind control.

And if she couldn’t get into _his_ head, she would try someone else’s mind. And the only other people here…

“I’m going to use the nanobots to protect the kids, if she can’t get to me, she’s going to go for them. Get everyone out of here before you help me,” Tony says while bracing himself.

“Fine,” Stephen says.

Tony can tell he’s not entirely happy about the decision, but they don’t have a choice. He forms another shield in front of the kids and instructs FRIDAY to take control of the suit. And then the red reaches them and he hears Peter and Stephen yell his name and all he can do is scream.

* * *

Stephen holds the portal open while Peter coaxes the kids to come through it as fast as he can. He can hear Rogers talking and he resists the urge to silence all of them and throw them into a different dimension. Preferably an unpleasant one.

But he knows getting the kids away from the Rogues. Tony is more than capable of taking on the Rogues if the situation escalates. He also knows backup is on the way, FRIDAY alerted the rest of the Avengers as soon as the Rogues showed up.

He’s not worried about Rogers attacking Tony, but he is worried about what Rogers’ words will do to Tony. It took a lot of time for Tony to trust them all and tell the whole team how he had been treated by the Rogues.

And then Rogers starts talking about mind control and Stephen knows things are going to go bad. He still remembers how distrustful Tony was near him and it took one confrontation for Tony to tell him it was because of his magic.

Once Tony had trusted him and Wong, he had permitted them to check if he was still being influenced by her. The magic they had removed was a nasty spell and Tony had pretty much collapsed in relief when it was gone.

Stephen knows all three of them are protected from Maximoff’s magic, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t cause some sort of flashback for Tony. He can hear Tony’s breathing quicken and he tries to reassure Tony as best as he can.

And then Tony tells them his plan and Stephen is exactly _surprised_ and he doesn’t like the plan much, but they have no other choice. And then Tony is screaming and both him and Peter yell his name.

“Hurry,” he says to Peter.

Peter nods and continues getting all the kids through the portal. The screaming hasn’t died down and the suit is completely still despite the fact that Stephen can hear Tony struggling inside it.

And then all the kids are through the portal.

“Stay with them and protect them,” Stephen says to Peter.

“Okay, just…take care of Mr. Stark,” Peter says.

Stephen nods and makes another portal to bring him to Tony’s side.

“FRIDAY use to mind-shielding nanobots to protect him from further attack and take him to Peter.”

The screaming stops as soon as FRIDAY follows his directions.

“What did you do?” Maximoff yells and sends a wave of magic towards him.

He deflects it and that’s when all 4 of the Rogues attack him at once.

“Colonel Danvers and Colonel Rhodes are 5 minutes out,” FRIDAY says in his ear.

Stephen doesn’t bother responding, instead doing his best to deflect the attacks. He hears the static indicating that someone else has joined their communication frequency.

“Strange, what’s the situation?” Jim asks.

“Rogers, Barton, Wilson, and Maximoff are here. Maximoff attacked Iron Man. I’m holding the 4 of them off right now.”

“What about Spider-Man? And is Iron Man down?” Carol asks.

“Spider Man is standing guard over all the kids and Iron Man is down. He isn’t physically injured but…War Machine you should go check on him and help Spider Man. He’s most likely going to respond to you. Captain Marvel can assist me.”

“Copy that,” Jim and Carol say.

It only takes a few minutes for Carol to land next to him, fully glowing. She gives him a nod and then flies back up to pull Wilson down to the ground and knock him unconscious.

That’s enough of a distraction for Stephen to knock out Barton and focus his full attention on Maximoff. He knocks her out as well and puts a shield around her so she can’t attack anyone if she wakes up.

“You! You’re just trying to copy me, but you can’t. I’m much more powerful, you just put on a light show-”

Carol doesn’t bother replying, she lets her powers fade away and punches Rogers. He falls to the ground unconscious.

“Well that was easy,” she says, “I though these guys were supposed to be strong.”

Stephen cracks a smile and then the police shows up. He lets Carol assist them while he flies to where Tony is. He’s still in the suit but the faceplate has been retreated. Jim is kneeling next to looking like he’s talking to him, but Tony’s eyes are closed, and his face is pained.

Peter is still standing around the kids and trying to keep them calm. Stephen goes up to Tony and Jim. He can sense magic still working on Tony.

“Jim, you need to help Peter get the kids back to their parents and help Carol sort out things with the police. I’ll take Tony back to the Compound.” Stephen says.

“Tony-”

“You can’t help him right now. I’ll take care of him, I promise. He’ll need you there afterwards, but for now you need to help clear up the situation.”

Jim didn’t look too happy about it, but he got up and went to help Peter. Stephen used his magic to get Tony into the car that Happy had just arrived in (FRIDAY called him).

“Is he…?” Happy asks, trailing off.

“Maximoff attacked him, he should be okay,” Stephen says.

He certainly hopes Tony will be okay.

“FRIDAY, can you call Loki and tell him to meet us at the compound?” Stephen asks.

“Of course Doctor,” she replies.

Stephen can’t do anything without going into Tony’s head and he knows he can’t do that without Tony’s permission. It’s one of the basic rules of mind magic. And Loki is definitely a lot more experienced with magic, as much as he despises admitting it.

Happy drives them as fast as possible to the compound. He helps Stephen carry Tony inside and too his room. Happy leaves to go back to work, still looking concerned for Tony.

Loki is already waiting there and as soon as he sees Tony, he moves to Tony’s side and starts to check over him with his seiðr.

“What happened?” he asks.

“Maximoff attacked him. I don’t know what she did,” Stephen says, “Rogers thought we were mind controlling him and ordered Maximoff to remove it. I’m not sure that was her intention though.”

“Rogers is a fool. It does not take two to control one’s mind and you are too inept to do it,” Loki says.

Stephen ignores the insult and starts putting up a barrier around the room to prevent further attack. The last thing they needed was someone else attacking Tony’s mind.

“Do you know what’s wrong with him?” he asks Loki.

Loki looks up at him and his seiðr fades away from around Tony.

“She trapped him in his worse memories,” he says, a look of anger passing over his face, “I can pull him out of it for now, but I will have to go into his mind to completely get rid of the magic.

Stephen definitely doesn’t want to be the one to tell Tony that.

Loki does something with his seiðr and pulls a bit of red magic out from Tony’s head. Tony seems to relax and the pain on his face fades away.

“He is resting, he will wake soon,” Loki says.

They both walk out of the room into the main sitting area to give Tony some privacy.

“FRIDAY, monitor Tony,” Stephen says.

“Of course,” she replies, “And the Avengers are 5 minutes out.”

Loki and Stephen sit down and wait for everyone to show up. It doesn’t take long for Jim to run in (with everyone else trailing behind him) and ask,

“How is he?”

Loki frowns, “He is…fine at the moment. I managed to remove some of the magic, but I will have to go into his mind to remove the rest. He is sleeping now.”

Jim goes into his room to check on him, while everyone else sits and waits with them. Jim returns after a few minutes looking relived.

“So what happened?” Carol asks after a few minutes.

“Rogers just showed up with Maximoff, Barton, and Wilson. He claimed Tony was being mind controlled by me and Loki. Tony stalled them while we evacuated the area, but we weren’t fast enough. Maximoff attacked him and he used the nanobots that were suppose to protect him from her to protect the kids,” Stephen says.

“This came in the mail yesterday,” Jim says throwing an envelope onto the table, “Tony was going to throw it away, but he got distracted.”

They all hesitate before Carol picks it up and opens it and reads it. And then starts laughing.

“This was the person who led the old team?” she asks, then sobers up quickly, “No wonder Tony was so happy to get away from them.”

They all pass around the letter and read it, wondering how far Rogers delusions can go.

“So what’s going to happen now?” Peter asks.

“The four of them will get their trial. Maybe they can tell us where Romanova and Barnes are,” Jim says, “But that’s not our problem anymore.”

They all sit in silence for a few minutes before getting up to put their gear away and eat something while waiting for Tony to wake up.

It takes about two hours for Tony to come out of the room, looking haggard. He stumbles and Jim catches him and helps him sit on the couch.

“Rhodey-bear? What happened?” he asks.

“Maximoff attacked you. Carol and Stephen took care of the Rogues,” Jim says.

“Did you use those power suppressing bands I made on Rogers and Maximoff?” he asks.

“Of course.”

“The video of Colonel Danvers punching Rogers has gone viral,” FRIDAY cuts in.

“I thought he would put up a better fight,” Carol says.

Tony smiles then winces.

“Headache,” he says when Jim looks at him with concern, “I feel like Maximoff took a blender to my brain.”

“Her magic still lingers in your mind,” Loki says, “I did what I could, but I have to go into your mind to remove the rest of it.”

Tony shudders and starts rubbing his head. He smiles at Jim when he hands him a cup of coffee and takes a long sip.

“What if you don’t remove the rest of it?” Tony asks after a few minutes.

Loki sighs, “She trapped you in your worse memories, and I was able to pull you out of that and put a temporary shield around your mind, but the actual spell still remains. The shield should hold up for some time, but once your defenses are lowered, you would go right back into those memories.”

“What qualifies as defenses being lowered?” Tony asks.

“Sleeping or not sleeping in your case.”

Tony curses, “So basically I have no choice.”  
  


“I will try my best to stay away from your memories, but it is likely I will see some of them,” Loki says.

“Let’s get this over with,” Tony says setting down the coffee and sitting back, trying to relax.

Loki shoots a look at Stephen and he gets up and starts putting shields around the room. Loki sits next to Tony and puts a hand on his head. Tony collapses onto the back of the couch and Loki stays still, concentrating on something only he can see.

It takes about 5 minutes before Loki removes his hand and draws out some more red magic with his seiðr. Tony gasps and sits up, clutching at his chest. He starts hyperventilating and Jim sits down on the other side of him and guides him through taking deep breaths.

No one says anything until Tony manages to slow his breaths down. He’s still shaking as he reaches for the cup of coffee he set down earlier and drains the rest of the cup.

“Sorry,” Tony says.

“No need to apologize,” Carol says.

It’s been a long time since Tony had apologized for a panic attack and Stephen knows it’s the reappearance of the Rogues that have led to this.

“Are you okay, Mr. Stark?” Peter asks.

“I’m fine kid,” Tony responds, not even bothering with trying to get Peter to call him ‘Tony.’

No one calls Tony out on the lie.

“I have been contacted by Ms. Van Dyne and Vision,” FRIDAY suddenly says, “They are on their way back.”

“What? Hope was attending important business and Vision has been excited for this vacation for weeks. They can’t come back now,” Tony says, “Tell them everything’s fine and they don’t have to come.”

“Sorry, boss, they’re insisting. And already on their respective planes.”

Tony sighs, “What’s the public’s reaction to all this?”

“They’re angry at the Rogues for attacking you at a children’s event and pretty much all on you side. A lot of people are worried about you and Carol punching Rogers is trending,” Peter says while scrolling through his phone.

“How come you call Carol by her name and not me?” Tony asks.

“That’s the part you’re focusing on?” Jim replies.

“Honey bear, you know I only focus on the important things,” Tony says with a smile.

Jim rolls his eyes, but his fond smile gives him away.

“You should get some rest,” Stephen says, “Your mind needs to heal.”

Tony nods and stands up, “Until next time,” he says and then walks back into his room.

Everyone else besides Jim also get up and start to leave, to give Tony some privacy. Stephen knows Tony will still suffer the lingering affects of the attack on him for some time and he knows the whole team will be there for him.

_At least Tony won’t have to worry about the Rogues anymore._

If they’re smart, Romanova and Barnes will stay far, far away from Tony. Because none of them will hesitate to protect Tony from them.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
